Contents

Publisher's Summary

HARD TIME continues, as a secret passed through time threatens Marty and Doc... but what can they do to set things right without making everything worse?!

Plot

On May 9, 1986, Marty tried to sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor in his brother Dave's room, but couldn't as he was kept awake by Dave's loud snoring.

The next day, Lorraine Baines McFly made a cake for her brother, Joey, who was paroled the previous day. She told him that she's sorry that it is late, but she wanted to be sure that he made parole before she made another cake.

Lorraine's entire family is there to see Joey, but they aren't happy with him. His mother scolded him for getting tattoos, and told him that they would have let him stay with them, but they didn't have any room. His father simply tells his wife that he knows that already. His brother, Toby, stated that he just wanted to make Marty an accomplice to another crime as he was an impressionable youth. When Marty stated that he was 17, Joey's other brother, Milton, mentioned that Joey was only 18 when he was arrested.

Due to the stress of the situation and the fact that he hadn't had any sleep, Marty said that he was disappointed in Joey when he was arrested and stated that his mother was even more disappointed. Feeling that he had no support from any of his family, even the nephew that used to love him, Joey angrily left the house.

When Marty woke up, he was in the passenger seat of the DeLorean. Marcus informed him that the DeLorean was in working order, but Doc was dragging his feat as he was worried about taking his family through time in the Jules Verne train. Marty tried to get Marcus to stop the car, but it was too late, as the DeLorean broke the time barrier and traveled back to 1972.

The DeLorean arrived on June 23, 1972, the day that Joey was arrested. The DeLorean arrived in the middle of traffic, as Marcus neglected to factor in daylight savings time, and assumed that it would be dark when they arrived. Marty took control of the DeLorean and made it fly on its side, narrowly missing a Volkswagen Bus. He then flew it onto the roof of a parking garage, as he knew that the garage closed at 5 PM.

Marcus was worried about the damage he could have done to the space-time continuum by allowing people to see a vehicle from the future, but Marty told him that it would be alright, and convinces him to go through with his plan to go to Mrs. Ellsworth's house, where Joey was arrested for theft. Marcus told Marty to stay hidden, as his younger self was present in this time period, and people would recognize him as "Calvin Klein", since 1972 was not that far removed from 1955.

At Mrs. Ellsworth's house, Marcus was surprised to find Doc Brown answering the door. Marcus clumsily blurted out that he was Professor Martin, and he was there selling physics encyclopedias. Doc let him in, as he stated he could use those, and he commented that he could use a new buffer between himself and his mother. Doc's mother turned out to be Mrs. Ellsworth, who married Carlton Ellsworth after Judge Brown died, many years prior. After Carlton died, she moved into a new house in Hill Valley.

Marty, who was eavesdropping on the conversation, knocked over a plant pot. Emmett told his mother that the "troublemakers" were back, and shouted that he had informed the police about the incident. Marcus took this time to leave, telling Doc that he may return the next day, at a better time.

He met up with Marty, and the two decided to head back to 1986 and never tell Doc what happened. However, when they got to the parking garage, the DeLorean was missing.